Boulder Valley School District Educational Facilities Master Plan

Boulder Valley School DistrictEducational Facilities Master PlanLAN InfrastructureThe current LANs were built with connectivity in mind, with no regard for throughput or speed.In hundreds of locations 6, 12, or 24-port mini-hubs are used in classrooms or labs to provideconnectivity for an equivalent number of computers, which are all fed over a single 10 Mb linkwhich is often times daisy-chained to another hub supporting a number of computers with a 10Mb uplink of its own. Cabling has been installed incrementally over the years utilizing variousstandards. A significant amount of Category 3 cabling is still in use in buildings. MDF’s and/orIDF’s are typically installed in shared spaces with no room for growth, no cable management,and no security. Many equipment racks are located in unsafe service areas that require laddersfor access.Current Phone SystemBVSD is currently using a Nortel phone system. It is not one integrated system. Each buildinghas its own stand-alone system with an OPX connection from the Ed Center. The configurationallows for a maximum of two or three phone lines per school and one is usually dedicated toFAX and/or the alarm system. Qwest is the service provider for phone service.Desktop WorkstationsThe District is in the process of upgrading desktops in the classroom. With the addition of thesenew desktops, the demand for more content and faster service will increase as more locationsare upgraded. It is expected that the upgrade will be completed by 2010.PROPOSED SOLUTIONThis section describes the solution proposed to meet the business objectives defined in thisreport. MGT of America conducted market research and analysis to determine alternativesolutions to best meet the needs of BVSD. Based on this research, MGT believes that theproposed solution in this section will be the most effective for BVSD. The proposed solution ispresented in the following sections:• Solution Description• Rationale for Selection• Other Alternatives Considered• Alternative SolutionSolution DescriptionTo address the business needs and problems as described in Section 3 of this report, MGT isproposing a solution which involves the following components:• The leasing of a fiber optic Wide Area Network (WAN)• The upgrade of the LAN in each building• The replacement of current phone system with a Voice-Over-Internet Protocol (VoIP)systemThe foundation of the proposed solution is the leasing of dark fiber optic cable to support a WANdedicated to BVSD. Each building location will require some upgrading of the LAN for handlingthe higher capacity of the WAN. BVSD will also be able to build upon the fiber optic installationwith a centralized VoIP phone system. In order to implement the above components BVSD will:Capital Improvement Planning Committee May 2006 Page 90